Day Trip to Zürich

Today we left at the bright and early time of 6:30 to make our way to Zürich. I was excited to see another major city especially one located in Switzerland. On our way there we made a stop in Giornico to see the Museo La Congiunta by architect Peter Märkli. It is a simple building made of concrete with skylights that sits across the river from the small town. It housed a few sculptures. I personally didn't like this building as I don't think it had much to offer. Once we were done there it was time to continue the drive to Zürich.

Museo La Congiunta

The road to Zürich (or anywhere through Switzerland for that matter) is so beautiful. The road traverses the gorgeous, snow-capped Swiss Alps. When I picture Switzerland this is what I imagine. While on this road we had to pass through the Gotthard Road Tunnel which travels underneath the Saint-Gotthard Massif. It is 17 kilometers or 10.5 miles in length and it took us close to 15 minutes to get through. It was an incredible feat of engineering to dig this tunnel underneath the entirety of a mountain range. Later on we passed Lake Luzern which was amazing how the mountains met the lake. Everything about Switzerland is just so beautiful.

Swiss Alps

We finally arrived in Zürich around noontime and our first stop was the Kunsthaus Zürich. This is an art museum built in 1910 by Karl Moser. Hans wanted us to see the Dada exhibit. We had several hours to explore the museum. The exhibits were out there to say the least. The architecture of the building was very nice though. I thoroughly enjoyed what looked to be a newer section of the building. When we were done we met back up with the group and went to our next stop.

Interior of the Kunsthaus Zürich

Right around the corner is the Rechtswissenschaftliches Institut der Universität Zürich which in English is the University of Zürich Law Library. The original building was completed in 1909 by Hermann Fierz. That design left a courtyard open in the middle which the university wanted to replace in 1989. They had architect Santiago Calatrava design an addition which was finished in 2004. It is absolutely beautiful. It is also an engineering feat as it only seems to tie back to the original building at three points. There is so much I really enjoyed from this building and it is one of my favorite buildings I have seen in Europe thus far.

University of Zürich Law Library

Those were the two heavy hitters on the list to see in Zürich. We took some time to seek out other things to see. The first was the Cabaret Voltaire where the Dada movement originated in 1916. It wasn't really anything special but it carried a lot of history. Next, Hans showed us where one of the early study abroad programs for Virginia Tech was housed in 1976. It was on this nondescript street in the basement of a brothel. It was interesting to hear about some of the history of our program. After a good laugh we trekked on.

We made our way to the Bahnhof Stadelhofen which is a train station completed by Calatrava in 1990. It was interesting to see how he tackled the problem of the station being in the side of the hill and on a curved site. It was a beautiful solution in a typical Calatrava fashion. It was pretty enjoyable experience despite the amount people running around. To finish off the trip to Zürich we drove down to the waterfront to see the Centre Le Corbusier which is an exhibition museum that houses some of Corbusier's work. This was also the last building he designed before he died in 1965 with this building being finished in 1967. The interior was closed so we just photographed the exterior. I didn't really understand the building as it just looked like a pavilion.

Bahnhof Stadelhofen

Centre Le Corbusier

Zürich was a nice city but with these day trips it is hard to really explore and appreciate a city fully. It was a long day but I really like what we had to see. Our next trip is Thursday to Monte Tamaro to see a chapel by Mario Botta.